Dry, shady area

For a climber, I'd say euonymus fortunei 'Silver Queen'. It will put up with almost any conditions. It will be sold in your Garden Centre as a shrub, but put it against a wall and it clings like ivy (so it doesn't need any support). Evergreen variegated leaves

thank you for that. I get quite annoyed when I find a plant I would like and then go to the garden centre and find that it is not in "fashion" and impossible to buy.

hi, we have a similar alley...don't know if you like hardy tree ferns - quite pricey to get large ones - but I love ours. Small ferns good too. Also climbing hydrangea nice - not evergreen though, & would need a large pot. Our arum lily thrives down there. Bit jungly down ours!

Caz - my Hydrangea petiolaris is evergreen???? What sort have you got? There's also Pileostegia viburnoides. I was introduced to this evergreen climber by Andrew, and had to track it down - but that would be a suitable climber for you, too. Both of these have white flowers.

dug out my notebook - I've got Hydrangea anomala ssp.petiolaris. Hardy, but definitely loses its leaves in Winter (near London), though stems a nice reddy-brown colour. Very pretty white flowers.